Decision to ditch all-fibre NBN about politics, not cost: Windsor

Former independent MP Tony Windsor has said that the conflict over the technology used to underpin the National Broadband Network is about politics not the cost of a fibre to the premises (FTTP) rollout.

After the 2010 federal election, Windsor along with fellow independent MPs Andrew Wilkie and Rob Oakeshott backed a Labor minority government, with the rollout of a fibre to the premises NBN a key issue in the decision.

“Do it once, do it right, and do it with fibre,” Windsor told ABC’s Q&A last night.

Making his announcement, Windsor confirmed he continued to back an FTTP NBN rollout.

“This is the infrastructure of this century,” Windsor said last night. “It delivers to our kids. It delivers in terms of our health. It delivers in terms of education and business.”

“It isn’t about cost; it never has been about cost,” Windsor said. “It has always been about politics. Because one side decided to go for the top standard, the other side had to oppose it. And that’s one of the great tragedies of this issue.”

Joyce, who was also a panel member on Q&A, said that overwhelmingly NBN end users had only opted for 25 megabit per second services rather than higher speed options and claimed that an FTTP rollout would cost $30 billion more and take six to eight years longer to roll out.

Under the current NBN rollout plan, FTTP will be used to connect only a minority of premises (although it currently comprises the majority of active services on the NBN). The majority of households will be connected with fibre to the node (FTTN), fibre to the building (FTTB) or hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC).

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